Judges / The Atrocity at Gibeah and the Levite's Grievance

The Atrocity at Gibeah and the Levite's Grievance

Judges 19:1-30

Chapter 19

¹ And it was in those days, and there was no king in Israel. And there was a man, a Levite, residing on the far side of the hill country of Ephraim. And he took for himself a woman, a concubine, from the house of Bread Judah. ² And his concubine prostituted herself against him, and she went from him to the house of her father, to the house of Bread Judah, and she was there four months. ³ Her husband arose and went after her to speak to her heart to bring her back, with his young man and a pair of donkeys. And she brought him to her father's house, and her father, the young woman's father, rejoiced to meet him. ⁴ And he strengthened his father-in-law, the girl's father, and stayed with him three days. They ate and drank and lodged there. ⁵ And it was on the fourth day, and they rose early in the morning, and he arose to go, and the father of the girl said to his son-in-law, "Sustain your heart, piece of bread, and afterward you shall go." ⁶ And they sat and ate, the two of them together, and drank. And he said—the father of the girl to the man—"Please stay the night, and your heart is good." ⁷ And he arose to go, but his father-in-law urged him, and he sat and spent the night there. ⁸ And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to go. And he said, "Father of the girl, refresh your heart, please, and linger until the declining of the day." And the two of them ate. ⁹ And the man arose to go, he and his concubine and his servant. And his father-in-law, the father of the young woman, said to him, "Behold now, the day has weakened toward evening; please let us lodge. Behold, the lodging of the day to lodge here, and it will be good to your heart, and you will rise early tomorrow for your way, and go to your tent." ¹⁰ And the man was not willing to spend the night. And he arose and went and came opposite Jebus, which is Jerusalem. And with him a pair of saddled donkeys, and his concubine with him. ¹¹ They were near Jebus, and the day had grown very late. And the servant said to his lord, "Come now, and let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it." ¹² And he said to him, his lord, "We will not turn aside to a city of a foreigner that is not from the sons of Israel. Here we will pass over to Gibeah." ¹³ He said to his servant, "Come, let us approach one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah." ¹⁴ They passed over and went, and the sun went down on them beside the hill which is to Benjamin. ¹⁵ And they turned aside there to come to lodge in the city of refuge, and he came and sat in the street of the city of refuge, and there was no man gathering them into the house to lodge. ¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field in the evening, and the man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was a resident alien in Gibeah, and the men of the place were sons of Benjamin. ¹⁷ And he lifted his eyes and saw the man, the guest in the square of the city of refuge, and the old man said, "Where are you going, and from where are you coming?" ¹⁸ And he said to him, "We are passersby from the house of Bread Judah to the flanks of the mountain of Ephraim; from there my family and I will go to the house of Bread Judah, and to the house of the LORD I am going, and there is no man gathering me to the house." ¹⁹ We have straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything. ²⁰ The old man said, "Peace be with you. Let all your needs be my responsibility. Only do not spend the night in the street." ²¹ And he brought him into his house and provided straw for the donkeys. And they washed their feet and ate and drank. ²² They were making their heart good, and behold, men of the city, worthless men, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the man, the owner of the house, the old one, saying, "Bring out the man who came to your house, and we will know him." ²³ And the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brothers. Do not do evil, please, after this man has come into my house. Do not do this impurity." ²⁴ Here is my house—the virgin and his concubine. Please, abuse them and do to them what seems good in your eyes; but to this man you shall not do this disgraceful thing. ²⁵ And the men were not willing to listen to him, and the man strengthened himself in his concubine and brought her out to them outside. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning, and sent her away as the dawn ascended. ²⁶ And the woman came at the turning of the morning and fell down at the opening of the house of the man where her lord was, until the light. ²⁷ And her master arose in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, and behold, the woman, his concubine, had fallen at the entrance of the house, with her hands upon the threshold. ²⁸ He said to her, "Get up, let us be on our way." But there was no answer. Then he placed her on the donkey and the man got up and went to his place. ²⁹ And he came to his house, took the knife, grasped his concubine, and cut her into twelve pieces, limb by limb. And he sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰ And it was that everyone seeing said, “Nothing like this has happened or been seen from the day of the ascent of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt until this day.” Set for yourselves concerning it—counsel and speak.